Sometimes I just don’t get the anger that spews from what I hope is a minority of the Mets fan base. Yes it sucked to lose three in the South Bronx this past weekend and yes the defense and the bullpen along with zero production from Ike Davis and Jason Bay when he’s healthy have led to a nasty slide, but has it gotten to the point where some of our Mets brethren have lost their ever lovin’ minds?

If you took to Twitter yesterday and you are a follower of Jon Rauch you got to see the worst and thankfully the best in Mets fans. Some of the angry mob attacked Rauch in such a way that it made me blush, not an easy thing to do. There were calls for Rauch to just go on the DL and never be heard from again and others who feel if it weren’t for him the Mets would be 1st place by a wide margin and there were some you called Rauch names in a screen that never in a million years would ever say to his face. In fact I tweeted to Rauch that the same “fans” who say you suck and that you’re a big pussy are the same ones who hang out by the player’s entrance at Citi Field begging for your autograph. I know the club has lost a lot of games of late but have we all lost our minds as well?

Jon Rauch will be the first to tell you he’s “pitching like horseshit” as he said after giving up the game winning HR to Russell Martin. He gave no excuses and stood at his locker and showed his emotions on how it sucked for the team and him to give up that shot. That kind of accountably had been lost in the Mets clubhouse but not anymore. That’s a big step forward. No one on this team hides in the trainer’s room after a loss, no one says “no comment” to any question, which is why this is an easy Mets team to root for, they’re stand up guys.

I’ve been called a sellout, a stooge and an apologist because the Mets have been gracious in allowing me and my fellow bloggers access to the players, if that’s what you think that’s fine by me. I will gladly admit I have not posted many negative posts here as I’ve done in the past, that’s because I really like this team, the manager and the front office. Before I was invited to such events at Citi Field, I advocated hiring Sandy Alderson to run the organization and when the Mets not only hired Alderson but got Paul DePodesta and J.P. Riccardi on board it was in my opinion, one of the best days in Mets history. I still feel that way.

The only people who mock and can’t see the future of the Mets is on the upswing are the ignorant. Those who refuse to see the good work that is going on in the minor league system and in the front office. Of course there is plenty of work to be done, this team not only has to pitch and catch the ball better and they have to play smarter baseball as well, we know that, the team knows that.

Believe me there have been Mets teams in the past like the Jeff Torborg and Art Howe led teams, and the end of the Willie Randolph era teams and the Jerry Manuel teams that I have despised. This team is the opposite of any of those lazy ass teams that embarrassed me as a Mets fans. This year’s team has me rooting harder for the Mets than I have in a long time.

Has there ever been two groups so closely aligned but such poplar opposites like Mets fans and Mets management? The one thing both groups have in common is they both root for the Mets to win (as inept as ownership is they want to win, they don’t have a clue as to how to accomplish that but they want to win) and that’s where the similarities end.

Mets fans are furious with the way this team has gone into the shitter on this past road trip. If your fans are going to stay up until 1AM then goddamnit we want a win. But with the anemic offense and the bumbling managerial tactics, this was one of the worst west cost trips ever for the Mets.

When the team left Flushing after losing four of six games to the Reds and Braves, we figured the All-Star break would be a good tonic for the club to recharge and get rested for the second half before the start of an 11 game West Coast road trip. I think we all felt if the Mets could go 6-5 on this trip that would be great. The road has been a house of horrors for the team all year but this would be a test for the team and a good trip would solidify the Mets as a true contender in the NL. Who knew that the 11 game trip would turn into Armageddon!

So from optimism, we Mets fans have turned into an angry mob, something we’ve gotten very good at the last couple of seasons, and we want a body. Someone has to be sacrificed, but who?

There’s talk of Howard Johnson getting either fired or reassigned in the organization. HoJo is a Mets lifer but quite frankly firing HoJo is just window dressing. In fact firing any of the coaches makes no sense as it’s not coaches’ fault this team can’t hit. So that leaves the manager.

If any coach gets the boot, and Jerry Manuel gets to stay on then that is just an insult to Mets fans and a good reason for them to keep their credit cards in their pocket and to stay off Mets.com to but tickets. The news I would like to see today is Ken Oberkfell named as interim manager, then reassign HoJo to manage Buffalo and leave the rest of the staff intact.

After the season, then it will be time for an organization wide colonic. Reassign Omar Minaya to head of scouting, in fact give his a fancy title like Czar of Player Development and Scouting and make it like it’s a real important high fluent position that will shape the feature of the franchise and then go out find a GM who is not locked in the dark ages. A guy who understands that statistical analysis is a must for success but can also meld that in with good old fashion boots on the ground scouting.

Seems to me, Bobby Valentine is kind of forcing the Mets hand to make some sort of move by throwing his hat in the ring to succeed Lou Pinella in Chicago. Most Mets fans are split between Bobby V and Wally Backman as to who they’d like see manage the Mets and with BV open politicking for the Cubs job he’s let it be known he’s more than ready for a high profile managing position.

I still donâ€™t know what to make of the sslllllllllowwwwwww cooking hot stove but all this idle time has me making up deals in my head. Some of course are ridiculous like how about Aaron Heilman for Luis Puljos? Or Gimp Castillo and prospects for Roy Halliday (I came up with those after I ate some odd looking mushrooms) but one I came up could fly at least in my simple mind:

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Gimp Castillo, Aaron Heilman, Brian Schneider a prospect and money (half of Castilloâ€™s ill gotten gains) to the San Fransisco Giants for Bengi Molina and Randy Winn. The Giants get a second baseman for half price, plus a back end of rotation pitcher in Heilman and choice of a B level prospect (from a list the Mets provide) and they get relived of close to $15 mil in salary relief. Â The Mets get a big upgrade at catcher plus a switch hitting bat for RF which in turn makes Ryan Church a bargaining chip for pitching.

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Go ahead and flame away!

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Saw these pics on Domâ€™ Dâ€™s Mets info laden site of Bailout Park. There is one shot of the bullpen that I hope is still under construction because I donâ€™t see the Kevlar roof that will be needed to protect the relievers from the angry mob of Mets fans.

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Mike Silva has a great post on his site on the 2nd base black hole and the lack of leadership that is needed on the Mets. When we think of leaders we always go with fiery types like guys Keith Hernandez and Gary Carter but sometimes leaders are guys like Eli Manning who is far from being a spitfire in the personality department but he has stepped up and become the leader of the New York Football Giants by stepping up his game and remaining clam when tough and tense times occur. It also helped him immensely that two of his biggest critics and the biggest wash women on the team Tiki Barber and Jeremy Shockey were gone from the team and in turn Manning flourished. Thatâ€™s why I would have loved to see Omar deal off Carlos Delgado to get not only max return off his stellar half season but them maybe David Wright would feel more comfortable to exert his leadership to the team. There is a part of that feels a team with mostly younger players would be more beneficial to the Mets winning than having older players. Maybe itâ€™s still the hangover from the Famous Rays season but I like watching young guys bust their ass day after day than old ones drag their saggy butts around all season.

How come no one talks about Nick Evans? Talk about a forgotten man. Another reason why Iâ€™d move Delgado as a platoon of Dan Murphy and Evans at first would be more than adequate and then if the Mets made my Giants deal you could keep Church and Winn together with Endy Chavez and Fernando Tatis leading a strong bench (Omar go get Willie Bloomquist please)

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Check out Toby Hydeâ€™s Mets Minor League Blog as he has a post on Tigers catcher James Skelton who could be available as a Rule 5 draftee. Skelton is very slight in built especially for a catcher (5â€™11â€ 165lbs) but he has a good batting eye and could be converted to a 2nd baseman a la Craig Biggio. It never ceases to amaze me how progressive thinking the Mets bloggers are compared to the organization which sometimes is stuck in the old time baseball mentality.

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Do you think the message has sunk in to the Mets brain trustâ€™ heads that there is no way on earth Mets fans want to see Gimp Castillo at 2nd base on opening day 2009?

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